Page 55 of Modern Romance June 2025 5-8

Her eyes widened before her forehead crinkled in a frown. ‘Yet I spoke to one of your staff soon after I arrived.’

She doesn’t believe a word you said.

It was there in her carefully bland expression and too tight jaw. And the angle of her chin, not precisely aggressive but not compliant either.

Benedikt wondered what it would be like to have this woman compliant, or, better yet, pleased and eager to see him. His palms prickled with a phantom sensation as he imagined holding her. Her chin would lift, not in pride or wariness, but to bring her lips closer to his.

Adrenaline shot through his bloodstream, making his pulse pound.

He took a seat opposite and banished the fantasy. Later, when there was time, he’d unpick how she’d planted such thoughts in his hitherto pragmatic brain.

Unlike his father, heneverlet sex interfere with his obligations.

‘My private secretary will get to the bottom of the miscommunication. In the meantime, again, my apologies. Can I offer you refreshments?’

‘Thank you, no. I had some recently.’

No breaking bread with the enemy, then.

She certainly wasn’t here as a friend, come to congratulate him on his accession to the throne.

His father had complained about her feisty grandmother, getting in the way of his modernisation plans.

When he was younger Benedikt hadn’t paid much attention other than to silently applaud anyone courageous enough to get in his father’s way. It seemed the old lady’s granddaughter had the same strength of character.

‘If you don’t mind,’ she said, sitting straighter, ‘I’ll get straight to business.’

‘By all means. Which business, specifically?’

Which business?

Annalena sucked in an indignant breath. As if he didn’t know full well! There could only be one reason.

How dared he pretend not to know?

He even softened his question with a slight smile as if he really cared.

As if she could be swayed from her purpose by that!

Annalena chose not to think about that moment of shocked reaction when she’d entered the room and seen him in person for the first time. Tall, well-built and suave in his expensive suit, he’d made her pause as an unfamiliar sensation triggered inside her.

His features were arresting, bold and attractive, enhanced by an intriguing groove down one cheek when he smiled. That, and the laughter lines at his eyes, gave an impression of warmth. As did those golden-brown eyes that contrasted so appealingly with his dark hair. But she wasn’t fooled. He was as hard and autocratic as his father. They even had the same stubborn, angular jaw.

‘The dam, of course.’

‘Ah.’ He paused, his expression impassive. ‘What aspect did you want to discuss?’

Annalena resisted the urge to grind her teeth. He might have been asking what cake she’d like with her coffee.

Did he really think so lightly of their concerns?

You know the answer to that. He doesn’t care any more than his father did. That’s why you’re here.Just because he looks…appealing doesn’t mean he’s even halfway decent.

She pinned on a cool smile, thankful that his arrogance temporarily banished her worry and her ingrained fear at being in the palace where King Karl, the bogeyman of her childhood, had lived. ‘All of it. You know the whole idea is disastrous. I’ve come to make sure it’s stopped.’

Nowshe got a reaction. His eyes no longer looked complacent. They widened in shock. His dark, angular eyebrows jerked down above his nose and his mouth lost its easy half-smile.

Obviously he didn’t like head-on confrontation.

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